Today, various seat actuators are known in the field of automotive safety technology for protecting vehicle occupants, some of which are electrically activated, and some of which are pyrotechnically activated. The actuators are generally integrated into the vehicle seats, a triggering or activation of the actuators being carried out by an airbag control unit which is situated outside the vehicle seats. The airbags are generally triggered with the aid of gas generators, an electrical ignition line being connected to the airbag and electrical ignition energy being used to ignite the gas generator or the gas cartridge of the airbag. The gas generator contains a precisely measured quantity of propellant which is pressed into pellet form and housed in an enclosed combustion chamber.
Conventional protection systems for the safety belt have a separate activation mechanism which, like the airbags, is activated by the airbag control unit.
Pressure distribution systems having solenoid valves are known in electronically controlled vehicle braking systems.
In certain systems, it is believed to be disadvantageous that the gas generated when burning the propellant chemicals of the gas generators is very hot, making it necessary for the airbags to have an additional protective coating in order to protect the airbags from burning damage. In addition, every airbag requires its own electrical ignition line, via which it is activated with the aid of the above-described electrical ignition energy.